Town of Vienna

Town Board Meeting Minutes

September 4, 2024

 

ATTENDANCE:

Supervisor Michael Davis

Councilwoman Mary Beth McEwen

Councilman Darrin Smith

Councilman Jason Spellicy

Councilman Jason Lamb

Town Clerk Carol Huber

 

CALL TO ORDER:

Supervisor Davis called the meeting to order at 7:00 pm. Supervisor Davis informed everyone of Constable Shane Eyre’s passing on Sunday 9/1/24 and shared the Face Book page that is set up for Funeral Expense Donations, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance and a moment of Silence for Shane.

 

NOCCOG:

Joe Rowlands talked about the following; New York State Association of Conservation Commissions’ Annual Conference is September 18th-20th. Lee Town Hall is hosting a free workshop on the benefits of GPS Mapping on Thursday, September 26^th at 11:00 am. Trenton Municipal Offices is hosting a hybrid Workshop on Monday, September 30 from Noon until 1:30 pm on the Fiscal Responsibilities of the Town clerk. NOCCOG annual fall dinner meeting is October 24^th at the Woods Valley Ski Area starting at 6:30. Cost is $30 per person.

 

NORMAN LEACH:

Mr. Leach talked about a $50,000 grant for gun fire detection in Utica that will increase the Police Response Time. There are radios coming out that will be able to switch over to cell towers to use like a cell phone. The DMV in Rome should open around January.

 

APPROVAL OF MINUTES:

A motion was made by Councilwoman McEwen to approve the August 7th, 2024 Minutes and seconded by Councilman Smith.

Voting Record:

Councilwoman Mary Beth McEwen Aye

Councilman Darrin Smith Aye

Councilman Jason Spellicy Aye

Councilman Jason Lamb Aye

Supervisor Michael Davis Aye

 

AUDITED VOUCHERS:

A motion was made by Councilman Spellicy and seconded by Councilman Lamb to approve Abstract 9 Vouchers to be paid for a total of $ 181050.74

Voting Record:

Councilwoman Mary Beth McEwen Aye

Councilman Darrin Smith Aye

Councilman Jason Spellicy Aye

Councilman Jason Lamb Aye

Supervisor Michael Davis Aye

 

SUPERVISOR'S REPORT:

Supervisor's Report is filed in the Town Clerk's office and will be posted on the Web Site.

 

TOWN CLERK'S REPORT:

Town Clerk read her report. Monies received for the month totaled $2588.77.

 

A motion was made by Councilman Smith to approve the Town Clerk's Report and seconded by Councilman Spellicy.

Voting Record:

Councilwoman Mary Beth McEwen Aye

Councilman Darrin Smith Aye

Councilman Jason Spellicy Aye

Councilman Jason Lamb Aye

Supervisor Michael Davis Aye

 

ASSESSOR’S REPORT:

Assessor’s Report is filed in the Clerk’s office and will be posted on the Web Site.

 

CODE’S REPORT:

Codes Report is filed in the Clerk’s office and will be posted on the Web Site.

 

HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT:

The advertisement for sealed bids for 3,000 yards of ice control was in the Queen Central News for 2 weeks and the Town Clerk received 3 sealed bids. Supervisor Davis opened the bids as follows:

 

Preston Hill Gravel submitted a bid for $7.00 per yard loaded.

K.Duda Trucking & Excavating submitted a bid for delivering the material from Preston Hill at $4.75 per yard.

McConnellsville Sand & Material, Inc submitted bids for $6.35 per yard loaded and additional $8.00 per yard delivered.

 

Supervisor Davis asked Highway Superintendent Clayton Conover which company he preferred and Conover answered Preston Hill because it was much cleaner sand than McConnellsville.

 

A motion was made by Supervisor Davis and seconded by Councilman Spellicy to accept the bid from Preston Hill Gravel with K. Duda Trucking delivering the 3,000 yards of ice control material (sand).

Voting Record:

Councilwoman Mary Beth McEwen Aye

Councilman Darrin Smith Aye

Councilman Jason Spellicy Aye

Councilman Jason Lamb Abstained

Supervisor Michael Davis Aye

 

Clayton also reported that the security cameras are all up and running at the Town Garage. They received 2 job applications for the opening at the garage and will conduct interviews next week. They also did more crack sealing in the Town Hall parking lot and will finish up this week.

 

Mr. Leach reported that the Bridge in McConnellsville is a County Bridge and the Oneida Herkimer Transportation Consortium is enabling residents to record close calls or accidents and let them know what occurred at the intersection at Vienna, Haskins and Higginsville roads

 

COUNCIL REPORTS:

Councilman Smith reported that the Railroad Corridor in Vienna in Oneida County has no signage for Mill and Hall Road. Oswego County has signs at their intersections. The Snowmobile Club takes care of the signs. Supervisor Davis explained that the 4 wheelers are not allowed on the trails. Smith also attended the Planning Board meeting and there were discussions on the Cell Towers and Dollar General. Also, Old Homes Day was a success. Fireworks were phenomenal and a lot of local businesses donated items for the raffles. He thanked the Town for donating towards the fireworks.

 

Councilman Spellicy announced that the Town is not moving forward with the digital sign at this time. We feel that the ARPA monies would be better spent buying generators for the Town Hall and Town Garage in case of emergencies.

 

OLD BUSINESS:

Water Extension: Ron Cole is currently out petitioning and hopes to be ready for the October meeting.

Cell Tower: ZBA had a public hearing and the paperwork needs modified before next meeting.

 

NEW BUSINESS:

Post Office: Supervisor Davis would like to use Matt Huber to put up some gutter and down spout on the small shed to divert the water away from Post Office. He would like to hire the engineer that they used for the water extension to inspect the Post Office.

 

Motion was made by Councilman Lamb and seconded by Councilwoman McEwen to have the Post Office inspected by an engineer.

Voting Record:

Councilwoman Mary Beth McEwen Aye

Councilman Darrin Smith Aye

Councilman Jason Spellicy Aye

Councilman Jason Lamb Aye

Supervisor Michael Davis Aye

 

Town Fee Schedule: Codes office, Planning Board and ZBA submitted suggestions for updating the fee schedule. The Board members will look over in the next month and bring back any suggestions and because it’s a local law, they will have to have a Public Hearing if changes are to be made.

 

Town Emergency Preparedness Plan of 2008: This will also need looked over and updated and brought back at the next meeting. Councilman Spellicy will reach out to Oneida County and FEMA again to get input. He would also like to invite the County Emergency Management Director to come to next meeting and speak.

 

Ready.gov disaster preparedness information has been posted to the new Web Site.

 

RFP Town Hall & Highway Generators: Supervisor Davis contacted 911 Generators out of Weedsport to come in and give a quote on Generators for the Town Hall and Highway Garage. We will now put an RFP in the newspaper for sealed bids using the specs from 911 Generators. Will open at next meeting. We will use the ARPA monies for this.

 

The ARPA monies need to be allocated by the end of this year, but not spent until the end of 2026. So far we have used the monies for an AED, repairs to garage, Web Site development, shed extension and roof, Broadband, computers and equipment, security cameras for garage, and the Town Hall Roof. The beginning amount was $456,613.88 and we have $45,468 yet to spend.

 

PUBLIC COMMENTS/CONCERNS:

William Shaughnessy gave a suggestion of sharing the sign with the Fire Department during an emergency.

 

Mike Piper reported that Oneida County DPW attended the parade and bought 3 brand new graters and our Highway Garage is still using a 1964 grater.

 

Martha who lives on Kimball Road explained about the speeding traffic on her road. The speed limit is currently 45 and would like it lowered to 35.

 

Supervisor Davis explained how the issue with people speeding is the speed limits are not being enforced. There is not enough man power. He explained how we could train Constables and buy a Police car to monitor roads. We can not get anymore State or County help. Training someone would ad liability to the Town, space would be needed for evidence collection, no holding cell would be needed, they would get mutual response from the Sherriff. The Sherriff did mention to not hire their office and cars because it is very expensive. Davis explained that nothing is going to change unless tickets are given out. The Town can start having conversations about getting help in 2025 for the 2026 Budget.

 

Pat D. explained that he would like Fells Road from Kellog Road to Vienna Road one way. He also wants speed bumps instead of speed humps because it would be more effective. He also reported that the 4 corners has close calls every day. If we wait for the County to do anything someone will get killed.

 

Councilman Spellicy explained how the State would have to do a study on the County Roads and the Town has no jurisdiction.

 

Supervisor Davis asked Mr. Leach if we can get a 4-way stop sign at the intersection. Mr. Leach said it takes 2 years for a request. Clayton Conover will start the paperwork for Fells Road.

 

Supervisor Davis explained how radar signs take in a lot of data. We can move the digital signs to the problem roads to collect data for the County.

 

Dean asked if Constables would have jurisdiction on all Town Roads and the answer was yes, but may get pulled away for emergencies.

 

Rick Roberts asked if any repairs were done to the Post Office since the last meeting. Supervisor Davis said repairs were made that were needed and didn’t get into any asbestos.

 

EXECUTIVE SESSION: Was not entered.

 

ADJOURNMENT:

Councilman Lamb made a motion to end the Board Meeting at 8:20 pm, seconded by Councilwoman McEwen. All were in favor.

 

Respectfully,

 

Carol L Huber

 

Carol L Huber

Town Clerk ­­­­­­­